Khao Lak is more popular then ever!

In Sweden it's apparently freezing cold and there is lots of ice on the lakes according to the sms we get from home. Please transport the ice to Khao Lak - we need it to get chilled drinks and beer on the beach in the heath!!

Since our last report we have said bye-bye to Ratana in Siem Reap and spend 1,5 days in our favourite city Kuala Lumpur (full schedule with visits to Sungai Wang Plaza, the rotating bar at Federal Hotel, lunch with Mr Poo in Times Square, Dinner at Jalan Alor, visit at Jalan Petaling!!) in Malaysia before heading back to Khao Lak in Thailand.

A lot is the same here - however we hear more Swedes than ever before and according to the locals business is relatively slow with less Germans due to the "political tsunami" that the unrest and closure of the airport in Nov/Dec in Bangkok caused effecting the whole SouthEast Asia.

We have met some our old friends here including Nam (Khanittha at former Garden Beach Resort, now Khao Lak Andaman Resort) and Jist at Nanh Thong I , Olof Carlsson at Poseidon Bungalows, Johnny - the taylor and some personell at the souvernier shops we have met during our previous visits before and after the tsunami 2004.

The positive thing is that they keep Khao Lak very calm, i.e. no nightclubs or the sort of nasty things you find at Patong. This attracts a lot of families with children, couples who wants to take care of themselves and elder people. No wonder - the beach is great, weather at the moment faboulous (it was colder and cloudy the first week ), massage on the beach, great food and a lot of activities for those who wants to activate themseleves.

We just arrived back from a 4 days visit at Similan Island - spending the time on a liveaboard with diving, eating, diving, eating, sunbathing, diving, eating, diving - in total we did 16 dives - some of the photos are attached. Diving was great!

Tonight Johnny the taylor has invited us for dinner at one of the Indian restaurants (at 22.00!) which we have not tried yet.

Otherwise we now know where they serve the best banana pancake in Khao Lak (after trying 7-8 places) and which restaurant that has the best chicken penang and where you should attend a thai cooking school, who has the best prices on food and drinks and where to go to if you want to buy souverniers, taylors, opticians, doctors (Bengt has been a frequent guest since he got his infected mosquito bites early on the trip but now it's gone), get the best service for activities etc.

If you plan to go to Khao Lak - just let us know and we provide you with our recommendations!

NEW YEAR. We entered 2009 barefoot on the beach on a very nice but small place together with 20 other people. Just before midnight an unusual high tide in combination with high waves came and took the big open fire on the beach, chairs and tables and everyone got soaking wet. Good food and fireworks at midnight and with flashlights in our hands we got back to Nang Thong relatively late that night.

We still have close to one week left of our journey and those days we plan to spend in Khao Lak and Bangkok before flying back to Stockholm.

Enjoy the weekend - we will!!

Cheers!

Anders, Eva, Bengt and Kerstin